How to Survive Finals Week

With the end of the semester just around the corner, the dreaded "finals week" is quickly approaching. Like most college students know, finals week is basically a week from hell filled with crammed study sessions, end of semester projects and packing. With everything coming to an end in this one single week, it is basically impossible to not be stressed. This being said, I have a few tips I have learned over the past year or so that could help you relieve some of that stress.

1) Coffee, Coffee, Coffee
This one is obvious. For all of those late nights studying or the dreaded all-nighters, coffee will be your best friend. Caffeine is a must and will keep you going when you're tempted to slow down. Whether it's iced or hot, shot of espresso or a specialty drink, anything will get the job done. Obviously, you don't want to get jittery which could be distracting, so make sure to keep track of how much coffee you've actually consumed. Either way, coffee will always be there to keep you going when you need to cram.

***Although coffee is a great energy booster, don't forget to eat healthy and drink water as these are both natural energy boosters as well.

2) Beauty Sleep
From first hand experience, I can tell you how important it is to stay decently rested during finals. Granted, you will need to stay up and spend a lot of time studying (hence the coffee) but don't forget to get your beauty sleep. Make sure to plan ahead and allow yourself time to get in a few hours here and there or even better, a full night of sleep. Being sleep deprived can really mess with your thought process and negatively impact your performance on the test. It will be tempting to just stay up and keep studying but I'm warning you now, sleep is just as important.

3) Break Time
Make sure to give yourself breaks from time to time. Now I don't mean take a whole day off to just procrastinate from studying. Instead, give yourself a half hour to just go take a walk and get some fresh air or maybe a few minutes to go grab a snack and reenergize. Either way, give your brain a break from the work once and a while to stop you from going insane.

4) Organization
Keeping organized is one of the best ways to ace your test. Make categorized study guides for each test using different colored pens or type them up. Or maybe you learn better from flash cards or creating a Quizlet online. Whichever method you choose, keeping everything organized will only make it easier.

5) Motivation
Last but definitely not least is to stay motivated. Believe me, I know how hard it is to concentrate when it's sunny and 75 out and summer is only a few days away. But I'm telling you, just work as hard as you can now and you will be rewarded. Once you're done, you're done for 3 months, so let that be your motivation. Work hard now and you won't regret it!